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Sevens (card game)

Sevens, also known as Seven up Seven down, Laying Out Sevens, Fan Tan, Crazy Sevens, Parliament or Yuto (in Argentina), is a card game for 3–7 players using a standard deck of 52 cards. Cards are played out to form a layout of sequences going up and down in suit from the sevens (as in many solitaire games). The game is won by emptying one's hand before the other players.

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All cards are dealt to the players, even if as a result some players have one card more than others. The owner of the seven of hearts begins by playing it. Similarly, the other three sevens may later be played as the first cards of their respective suits. After that, cards may be added in sequence down to the ace and up to the king. A player who cannot place a card passes.

The game is well suited for parties of mixed ages; with small children it can be played until all players have finished. It often makes sense for players to avoid playing cards close to 7, in order to force others to play cards in other suits in which the blocking player may hold high or low cards. Scoring, if desired, can be done by simply counting the remaining cards in players' hands. Other methods of scoring such as counting the remaining pips (Jacks, Queens and Kings each contributing 10, Aces contributing 15) may lead to greater attention to high-scoring cards.

In some variants of the game all players receive the same number of cards and the remainder (if any) is turned face up and can be played by anyone as needed.[citation needed] In some variants, after a seven has been played other cards of the same suit may not be added before the eight is also played.[citation needed] In some variants players are allowed to pass even when they are able to play a card.

In Bharat, the game is called Badaam saat (Hindi for seven of hearts, also known as satti centre). It starts with the seven of hearts and the subsequent players may build upon that or start a with a new suit with a seven of any suit. A player can pass only if no playable card is available, else a penalty is dealt if discovered.

More than one deck of cards can be used. The first card must always be the seven of hearts, but the first move in such cases is decided by the dealer's position (eg. the closest in the direction of dealing), particular deck (if designs are distinguishable) or simply by calling it.

The game ends when a player has no cards left. Points, if counted, are scored by adding the value of the cards left in hands of the remaining players for a number of games. (1 point for an ace, 2 for a two, 10 for a jack, 13 for a king and so on. In some variations, the ace and/or the face cards are worth 10 points.) The player(s) with the most points at the end of the set loses. In a variation, the winner gets the sum of all the values of cards left in hands of the remaining players, and the player with the most points wins at the end of a set.

The French card game Domino is essentially the same as Sevens except that the player to the dealer's left leads, and may lead a card of any rank. Subsequent players may then build on that suit or start a new suit with a card of the same rank as that originally led.

Another similar game called Elfer Raus! ("elevens out!") is played with custom cards depicting the numbers from 1 to 20 in four (in some editions three) colours. It is marketed in Germany by Ravensburger. In this game three fourths of the cards remain in the stock, players can play as many cards as they want in one move, and players who cannot play at least one card must draw up to three cards. The score of a card is its face value. The rulebook distributed with the game describes two variants (one permitting each colour to be started with 10 or 12 instead of 11, and one that is similar to the French card game Domino) as well as how to play various children's games with the set.

In the Swedish variant known as Sjuan ("Seven"), the first card to be played must be the seven of hearts. If a player is unable to play a card, a card must be handed to him/her from the previous player, usually the most useless card they have, and the turn passes on to the next player. The highest card in sjuan is king while the lowest is ace. If someone can play out all their cards, he or she can do so.

In some editions of Hoyle, a game called Fan Tan or Play or Pay is described that differs from the Sevens rules given above as follows. The player left of the dealer begins by playing any seven or passing. The game is played with a pool, and penalties are paid for passing, for passing when able to play, and for passing when holding a seven.[2]

The same name is used for the following variant that starts with the aces. When the deal has been decided, the cards are dealt singly, and any that are left over form a stock, which is placed face downwards on the table. Each player contributes a fixed stake or ante. The first player can enter if he has an ace; if he has not he pays an ante and takes a card from the stock; the second player is then called upon and acts similarly till an ace is played. This (and the other aces when played) is put face upwards on the table, and the piles are built up from the ace to the king. The pool goes to the player who first gets rid of all his cards. If a player fails to play, having a playable card, he is fined the amount of the ante for every card in the other players' hands.

In the variation known as Shichi Narabe (in Japanese: 7並べ), the players remove all sevens from their hands to start the layout before the first card is played. Up to three times per game a player may choose to pass.

The following variant is described under the name Siebener raus ("sevens out") in a German book. The game starts with the seven of clubs. For any seven that has been played, no other cards of that suit may be played before the six and then the eight. When the six, seven and eight of a suit have been played other cards of the same suit may be played at any time to form stacks on the six (descending to the ace) and eight (ascending to the king). At the end of the game, each player pays the total value of their remaining cards, and the last player who had to pass pays an additional penalty.[3]

In the variation known as Eights, the Eight of a suit must be played first, followed by the 9 and the 7. Only then can the remainder of the cards be played, increasing from the 9 and decreasing from the 7. In addition, when a player is unable to play, he must take a chip or marker indicating that he was the last player unable to play. Scoring is based on the cards remaining in each player's hands when the first player has played out: face value for numbered cards, 10 for face cards, 15 for aces (which are low), and 25 points to the player holding the marker.If the players have same point when they showdown.Both the players will get same point (i.e.,0) apart from them all must will get point that what they are having in card.

In the [Finnish] variant known as Ristiseiska ("the seven of clubs") [4], the first card to be played must be the seven of clubs. If a player is unable to play a card, a card must be handed to him/her from the previous player who selects which card to give (usually a worthless or low value card). Also, the last difference between Ristiseiska and Sevens, is that both the eight and six of each respective suit must be played before any other cards may be played further on that suit. The game is over when someone runs out of cards.